Wed, 03 Apr 2019, 11:21 AMPDRA Kicking Off 'Road to the Finals' at East Coast Nationals

Courtesy of Nate Van WagnenPhoto by Tara Bowker

BENSON, N.C. --

The Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) Road to the Finals begins this weekend at the first
of eight races on the 2019 PDRA Tour, the PDRA East Coast Nationals presented by FuelTech, April
4-6 at GALOT Motorsports Park in Benson, N.C. Entering its sixth season, the PDRA will debut its
new "Friday Night Fire" and "Main Event" formats.

The all-eighth-mile drag racing series restructured its daily event schedule over the offseason in
an effort to give fans more of what they want. PDRA Friday Night Fire will kick off at 6 p.m. with
back-to-back qualifying sessions for the PDRA's professional classes. The Main Event begins
Saturday at 4 p.m. with pro eliminations and the completion of sportsman eliminations.

"The Friday Night Fire and Main Event formats will hopefully make our schedule a little more
fan-friendly," said Tyler Crossnoe, race director, PDRA. "This new event schedule will make it
easier for fans to finish work on Friday or go to their kids' ball game Saturday morning and still
get to come out and watch an evening of pro drag racing."

"We've got a really well-rounded lineup for the East Coast Nationals," Crossnoe said. "Aside from
Drag 965 Pro Nitrous Motorcycle, which will kick off their season at Virginia in May, we've got all
of our pro classes on tap. We'll also have Top Sportsman and Top Dragster with some of the best
sportsman racers in the country, plus Coolshirt Pro Jr. Dragster presented by Knoxtown Products,
Gilbert Motorsports Top Jr. Dragster and Edelbrock Bracket Bash for our young guns and local
racers."

Tommy D'Aprile

Defending Pro Boost world champion Tommy D'Aprile and his Al Billes-tuned '69 Camaro will begin
their title defense at the East Coast Nationals, fighting off a field of boosted entries including
the new ProCharger-equipped Camaros of GALOT Motorsports drivers Kevin Rivenbark and John
Strickland, as well as roots-blown drivers Chuck Ulsch, Ric Fleck and Melanie Salemi.

Jason Harris enters the season as a two-time Pro Nitrous world champion with his "Party Time" '69
Camaro after winning the 2018 title. He leads a pack of ultra-competitive Pro Nitrous drivers made
up of stars like two-time world champion Tommy Franklin, perennial title contender Jay Cox and the
Pro Nitrous world record holders in ET and speed, Jim Halsey and Lizzy Musi, respectively.

All eyes will be on the scoreboards when Extreme Pro Stock rolls to the line, as the Mountain Motor
Pro Stock stars race to become the first to officially run in the 3-second zone. Jeff Dobbins
posted a 3.98-second pass in testing in late 2018, making him a likely candidate. Challengers
include defending world champion Steven Boone, runner-up Elijah Morton, 2016 world champion John
Pluchino, multi-time low qualifier John DeFlorian, World Finals winner Chris Powers and class
veteran John Montecalvo.

Crossnoe said race officials are keeping an eye on the forecast, specifically rain showers Friday,
and will adjust the schedule as needed.

"We'll do what we can to get ahead of the chance of rain on Friday," Crossnoe said. "We'll pay
attention to the forecast and do whatever it takes to get the race in on Saturday night."

The PDRA East Coast Nationals presented by FuelTech will kick off with testing from 12 p.m. to 6
p.m. Wednesday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday. Friday qualifying will begin with the driver's
meeting at 8:45 a.m., followed by the first sportsman qualifying session at 10 a.m. and the first
professional qualifying session at 2 p.m. Sportsman final qualifying starts Saturday at 10 a.m.,
with professional eliminations slated to start at 4 p.m. The final rounds for pro classes are
scheduled for 9 p.m. Saturday.

Tickets to the PDRA East Coast Nationals presented by FuelTech are available for $15 for Thursday
testing, $20 for Friday qualifying and $25 for Saturday eliminations. A weekend pass, good for all
three days, is available for $50. Children 12 and under get in free. Tickets are available at the
gate or online at www.pdra660.com/.